Employment/job creation

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) is a project finalised in 2016 and “handed over” through a public/private partnership scheme, from the foundation/donor to the Greek state. The site hosts the National Library of Greece and the Greek National Opera in a 170,000 sq m landscaped park. The SNFCC's objective is to restore Greece's image and become a global role model of environmental sustainability. The project is committed to a range of educational and cultural activities, which have been provided for free. It also claims flood-regulating functions, air quality improvement impacts and shade provision, among others. [1]

Initially the park was created in 1903 as a summer residence for the royal family and had a no-visitor’s policy. For over 40 years the park collected 821 trees, shrub and, grass species from all over the world on less than 100 ha. After the estate was given back to the successors of Tsar Boris III, they partially donated the park to Sofia municipality and in 2013 the park-museum ‘Vrana’ was opened for visitors. Due to its rare species, well-preserved wilderness and historical significance, the park enjoys great interest from tourists as well as scientists as a biodiversity hotspot. (Ref 1)

Creation of an additional spot for a vegetable garden, which is a utility of the charitable society for inclusive employment (Gesellschaft für integrative Beschäftigung mbH) in Bremen. With the land provided by the city and with the financial help of Aktion Mensch organization the initiative aimed to establish an additional area for the gardening and horticultural activities that will involve disabled people. The project aims to increase social inclusion of the disadvantaged groups as well as promote urban subsistence and sustainable solutions in food production. The initiative also involves educational activities (Ref. 2, 3).

Rehabilitation of the public green space of the Park Krekovic through employment of people with a risk of social exclusion. The initiative cleaned the green areas of the park, rehabilitated the gardens with planting actions, and maintained the overall infrastructure. (ref 4)

With the progressive monopolization of the seed trade and the industrial cultivation of hybrid varieties as well as the restrictive seed legislation, the cultivation of old crops has steadily declined and about 90 per cent of the old crops have been lost. This initiative aimed to reverse the trend by the cultivation of old crops, dissemination of their seeds among farmers and educational workshops to protect and increase their biodiversity.

The project involved the building of the propagation garden on an approximately 4500 square meter area in Ricklingen. This project started in 2013 and it involves interested residents, cooperating with Transition Town Hannover (TTH). The city of Hanover supported the initiative by providing the property and financial aid for the construction of the garden. The project has been provided with professional network from BUND (Kreisgruppe Region Han­nover), the School Biology Center, the VEN (Association for the Conservation of Crop Diversity eV) and Leibniz University, Institute of Horticultural Production Systems and the Chamber of Agriculture In 2014, the basic restoration work on the property was completed. (Reference 1, 5).
Frame beds were installed in 2016 while a garden house was built in 2017. The project was funded by the City of Hannover until 2017 but it continues until the present with the help of volunteers (Reference 9).

The Sea's Corridor is a project that created green spaces with good quality that act as green belts of the city while serving as a support for the sustainable and not motorized means of transport. It was part of a project Plan called "Plan E" of the Municipality of Palma (Ref 1). The project was completed and in 2020 there are plans to do some renovations. They want to join the Sea's Corridor to Platja de Palma, as well as create new green spaces with a wider link with the ocean (Ref 5).

The intervention includes two elements, part of the project aims to create a park and then a green corridor that unites that park with the city. This last corridor project was then planned as a rehabilitation and development project in three phases along an urban transitway. It aims to be recovered as a public space for citizens to improve the urban sustainability of Palma. Aside from the infrastructural development the intervention also included tree planting and green cover maintenance (ref 1). The work on this development began, but it was unfinished.
After public protests (Ref 11 ), in 2019, there was another phase proposed for this project, to retake this unfinished initiative and make a long corridor from the Parc de Ses Estacions to the Son Forteza District. This part of the project was on the planning phase due to the complexity of urban planning change as well as the costs of this initiative. There has been no development of this new proposal (Ref 10).

Based on an urban regeneration project in the city district of Arrenberg, an association called “Awakening of the Arrenberg” formed in 2008, consisting of citizens, entrepreneurs and real estate owners seeking to transform their district. Under the umbrella of the project “climate quarter Arrenberg” initiated in 2014, whose goal is to make the district CO2 neutral by 2030, the development of a city farm covering 60,000 sqm on former railway premises - a Europe-wide unique project in urban farming – is one of their most important plans that make up their vision of becoming carbon neutral. (Ref. 1, 2 and 3). The goal of the farm is to produce healthy and locally produced food, while creating employment opportunities and remaining carbon-neutral, using power only from the sustainable power plant that will be installed for the project. (Ref. 2) In February 2020, the implementation has not yet started, but the “Awakening of the Arrenberg” association says the vision of the urban farm is stronger than ever before and that the project has received funding approval, with experts now working on feasibility studies. (Ref. 8).

The municipality aimed to establish a zone in Murcia that worked as a "green lung" for the city while making it its engine for economic, social and cultural development (Ref 2). For this, the municipality planned and implemented the project of "Integrated Alcantarilla Parks". It includes several parks, with the priority of creating one in the surroundings of the Ethnological Orchards Murcia's Museum (Ref 1). The project is called integrated as it is based on the integral values of sustainability where the environment, the economic development and the socio-cultural needs are compatible (Ref 2). For this, there will be sustainable architecture, recovery of the natural environment, as well as incorporating the historical heritage in the public green areas of a specific zone (Ref 3). There are many parks that are part of this project, the last one was the Ibarra de Murcia Park in 2020 (Ref 7 and 8).

The urban gardening project is a strategic employment and qualification measure which accommodates 14 long-term unemployed people guided and advised by 4 part-time employees of the Wuppertal District Service, consisting of a professional gardener, an instructor, a social education worker and a project manager. Coordinated with the Forestry Department of Wuppertal and the City of Wuppertal and in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, the participants of the programme plant and harvest vegetables and herbs in 19 high-raised flower beds on decentralized public and private spaces across the Ostersbaum district. The harvest is distributed to and shared by all residents. (Ref. 3) A further goal of the intervention is to increase cultivated green spaces and streets in the city district of Ostersbaum and thus to enhance the quality of life in the district. In 2017, the project was extended with an opportunity for beekeeping. (Ref. 8) Apart from its main goal of providing employment and assistance to unemployed people, the leaders of the project also offer educational opportunities for children and students, through educating them about the cycle of food production and creating an understanding of the origin of food. (Ref. 1)